I Have Seen the World
by mapplepie
Summary: The fate of the world had actually been in Obito's hands. In fact, it had been in his hands several times. He failed Rin (and the world) each and every time. He's had enough - Obito's done trying.


_A/N: This started out as a short introspective piece focusing on Obito, trying to explain canon's "Because you let Rin die" "You're not going to blame me?" because it made me so confused when I read it. Wasn't Obito blaming him? What more did Kakashi want? (or did I miss a panel of dialogue somewhere?)  
Then, (because this is me,) I started hinting at ideas of time-travel. Then, it ended up like this._

 _One-shot_

* * *

"Why?" Kakashi had demanded, so broken and betrayed.

"Because you let Rin die," Obito had replied, but really, that was him making excuses like his Genin years once more. Kakashi had done nothing wrong.

If anyone, Obito was the one to blame.

Obito's Kamui was a special technique, unique to his Sharingan, with the ability to warp both space and time. The moment he'd realised that, Obito had taken advantage of the _time_ aspect for all it had to offer.

In the end, the world had actually been in Obito's hands. It'd been in his hands _several_ times, and he'd failed it each and every round.

Obito had once gone back and pulled himself up from the title of 'dead-last'. He'd become strong – not as strong as Kakashi though, he hadn't surpassed him yet at that point - but he was stronger than he had been the first time around. Everything was fine until he graduated from the Academy. Then, he'd lost Rin; he'd lost his place as her teammate when he was slotted off on a different team with fresh faces. The two had lost contact slowly but surely, and in the end, Rin had disappeared from his life. She became nothing more than just another Konoha kunoichi – a stranger outside of missions.

He tried getting along with Kakashi on another try. He did everything he could to be on the other boy's good graces, but Kakashi was harsh and unyielding. Socialising made Kakashi irritable, and the bastard took it out on his teammates. Obito would never forget the crushed, insecure, timid girl Kakashi had reduced Rin into, subjecting her to his daily tongue-lashing. If only Kakashi's opinion hadn't mattered to Rin much as it had. Why did she have to be so in love with him?

In a fit of impulsive hatred, Obito had then rewound his world and tried to leave Kakashi to his death amidst falling rocks in a crumbling cave. Everything was fine until the fact sunk in. And then he'd watched Rin cry and cry and cry her heart and soul out, while he stood there, unable to do anything to console her. Because even if Rin wouldn't have known, Obito hated lying to her, and how could he say "I'm sorry I couldn't save Kakashi" when he had deliberately chosen that path?

A ' _happily ever after'_ just wasn't possible no matter how hard he tried, and Obito should know. For that particularly unforgettable mission with the cave, he'd once managed to change the world enough to get his whole team home without a single death - and wonders of wonders, even Kakashi had a personality change! For years after, Obito thought he'd finally done it. And then his clan found out about his love for Rin. Year ago they wouldn't have cared, but now he was a strong shinobi in his own right - student of the Yondaime, Anbu, and owner of the famed Mangekyō Sharingan; he was to marry within the clan for the Uchiha to prosper. The Head had been slightly more apologetic, but the Uchiha Elders were rigid, prudish traditionalistic bastards who abused their power. So when Rin suspiciously perished not soon after, Obito knew who to blame.

His latest try had been _so_ close to a perfect life, if only he hadn't ruined it for Rin.

So, in his final round, he decided to take Kakashi's place under falling rocks, gifting Kakashi with his Sharingan so Obito would be able to live on _somehow_ without ruining Rin's life once more. If he learned anything from the preceding try, it was that he didn't actually hate Kakashi as much as he originally thought. Perhaps this would make it up to Kakashi for deliberately letting him die some previous tries prior? Besides, if there was anyone who could make the most of the Sharingan, it was Kakashi the prodigy.

Of course, things didn't go as planned.

Obito never expected to survive. Obito never expected Rin to die once more. He never expected Kakashi to just live on despite her death, without ever considering attempting the impossible to rewrite history. But then again, Kakashi was only a man with a donated Sharingan, never an Uchiha and thus limited from its full potential.

 _"_ _Because you let Rin die,"_ Obito had said to Kakashi when the man asked for his reason, but who was he to accuse Kakashi of anything? How many times had Obito let that happen to Rin himself? Maybe not always 'die' in _body_ , but definitely in _soul_.

The surrounding around the two former teammates seemed to disappear into an unimportant haze as they stared at each other, Obito's words echoing around them. Eventually, Kakashi spoke up once more in a tone so utterly heavy: "You're not going to blame me?"

The thing was, Obito _was_ blaming Kakashi – blaming him for letting Rin die. But that wasn't what Kakashi meant; Kakashi had been expecting the direct words " _You killed Rin_ ," " _You killed me,"_ and " _It's all your fault,"_ hiss in his face – words Kakashi had probably repeated to himself over and over again in front of their respective graves.

Kakashi's years of self-punishment were probably harsher than anything Obito could dole out.

Obito studied Kakashi's expression as he held quiet. Putting Kakashi's massive guilt aside, Obito could make out the man's undying belief in his allies and their eventual ability to obtain peace for the world. Obito felt like he was drowning in the flood of determination Kakashi seemed to exude. It had been lifetimes ago since Obito's own will had burned that brightly. No matter what he did, reality had refused to bend the way he wanted it to, and his drive had quickly dimmed by the years of failures.

Obito had seen the world and all its possibilities when he relived his life over and over again in order to obtain his ideal future. Obito was stronger and smarter than Kakashi nowadays, but that was only because of years of retries. Initially, Kakashi had always been the superior one, and in the matter of determination, this Kakashi here was significantly stronger.

So then … rather than someone like Obito who was quickly losing hope for a happy ending, what if someone like Kakashi took the world in his hands instead? "I hold no interest in this reality anymore," Obito murmured detachedly, a sort of morbid curiosity building up inside at his sudden inspiration.

Obito dragged his gaze over his former teammate, shaking his head, finally replying to Kakashi's question. "You wanted to be blamed, Kakashi? Then I blame you," Obito projected cuttingly, taking slow, casual steps over to the man. He swept an arm, gesturing to the situation around them. "Everything here is your fault. Now take responsibility of your actions and _fix things_ ," he demanded.

Abruptly, Obito's Sharingan spun into the Mangekyō and pulsed, drawing power from its nearby pair. Kakashi's eyes widened at the pull of his left eye. The silver-haired man tried to move, tried to do _anything_ , but it was far too late by that point.

Before Kakashi's very eye, reality warped.

A small smile graced Obito's lips. "Good luck," Obito whispered softly, letting his final words linger in the wind, forever unheard by the one it was meant for. And then he closed his eyes and embraced the world as it broke down around him to let Kakashi's new reality take its place.


End file.
